The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-06-30
THURSDAY, JUNE 80, 1887.
ABOUT GAMBLING.


We do not rejoice in the downfall
of any one, but when it comes to spec
nlating in the necessaries of life, we
have no sympathy 70 waste upon those
unscrupulous persons who are sent to
the bottom when the "tables turn J"
in such gigantic deals as have lately
been witnessed in coffee and wheat in
New York and Chicago.
The age in which we live may be
rightly called an age of gambling.
The spirit seems to be growing, and
every possible power should be brought
10 bear against it. The great heart
centre of the gambling spirit of this
country is in Wall street, New York,
and from this centre its mighty pull
-sations are felt with unvarying regular
lty from one side of the continent to
the other. The daily records of the
gamblers of Wall street show most gil
gantlc operations. Bonds, stocks and
securities of every sort, are made the
mediums of gambling. Cotton flu
lures are also very largely dealt in, and
millions of bales are bought and sold
" on paper. Fortunes are lost and
won every day at this business. This
~ future - business on cotton, oil and
other things, is perhaps the most stu
pendous gambling scheme, the world
has ever seen. 1t is said that the
Southern people lose millions of dol
lars every year, dabbling in ''Cotton
futures. " The prospect of making a
cool thousand or two without work by
putting up small :. margin " is very
tempting. Men -" go in and lose.
Operators in Wall street, live and
grow rich upon the gullibility Of the
American people, and it is surprising
how many people are drawn into this
gambling vortex and Aeeced by the
sharpers. The Wall street business is
looked upon as a sort of respectable |
occupation, but the gambling fever
that is raging there all the time has
had, and is still having 4 tremendous
power for evil in the land.
Dabbling in :. futures - and all that
sort of thing, is just as much gambling
as card playing or anything else, and
the man who buys and sells cultures
is no less 4 gambler than he who stakes
his money upon the result Of a game
of cards, or bets upon. a base ball
game. 1t is all gambling, pure and
simple. The spirit of gambling is
most terribly demoralizing. 1t is fear
full to think of the effect it is having
upon the young men of the country.
So deep has the spirit of gambling
taken root among the people, that an
innocent game of base ball cannot
take place, without men gambling upon
the result.
Gambling has always been regarded
by all good people as great vice and
Its influence is evil, and ;
evil only. 1t is indeed dark hour in
a young mans life, when he takes his
first step in gambling, for the course
if pursued, will lead to ruin of charac-
ter and soul.
We would say TO our young men,
then, that if they would keep their
characters unstained and preserve their
manhood, they must avoid gambling
as they would plague. Remember,
too, that one form of gambling is as
bad as another, whether it be dealing
in " futures " in Wall street, playing
poker, whist, or seven-up in the back
room of saloon, or betting upon base I
ball, horse-racing, or chicken fighting. Y
They are all the same. /
The law should not Countenance t
this sort of thing, and it is time to call v
halt Public opinion should rise I'D v
md with one voice denounce it. +